Midtown Lunch

Every Tuesday we turn over the site to a different Midtown Lunch’er for his or her recommendations for the best lunch in Midtown. This week we’re throwing a bone to the Flatiron Lunchers.  Meet Ada, a student who works in the far reaches of Flatiron East.

Name: Ada

Age: 21

Occupation: Study Coordinator at Bellevue Hospital Emergency Department/Senior at Barnard College/ Food blogger

Favorite Kind of Food: Sushi, ice cream sundaes, salads (I’m an anomaly, I know), seared tuna, ostrich burgers

Least Favorite Kind of Food: mayonnaise (yuck), bone marrow, blue cheese

Favorite Place(s) to Eat Lunch in Midtown: Baoguette (on Lex btw. 25+26th) for some mean bahn mi sandwiches, Saravaana Bhavan (on Lex btw. 26+27th) for lunchtime thalis/dosas, the second floor of Kalustyan’s market for inexpensive lentil sandwiches, Murray’s Falafel (on 1st btw. 15+16th) for the awesomely monikered Shwafel.

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Tuk Tuk Boy, the Thai food cart on 50th btw. 6+7th, got off to a rough start back when it opened, but now that they’ve been on the street for a few months (and presumably had a chance to work out the kinks) I checked back in to see if there’s been any improvement. You might remember, Chris experienced a particularly sad looking Pad Thai that certainly didn’t justify the wait he endured to get it.  Well I’m happy to report that my chicken pad thai ($6.99) looked nothing like Chris’, and didn’t taste the way he described either.

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Dorie Greenspan’s Annual CookieBar Pop-Up opened yesterday at the Mizu Salon (Park btw 59th+60th) and I stopped by to check out some of her new flavors including the new “Cocktail Cookie Collection”, which come in tubes for $10. These cookies are meant to be served as before-dinner appetizers, and come in flavors Cocoa-Cayenne, Rosemary-Parmesan, Sesame-Sea Salt, and Cranberry-Five Spice. All I have to say is where were these Sunday night!? I will say this… if you’re one of the smart guys cooking their lady dinner next week, having these on hand would win you bonus points. But I didn’t indulge in the savory, I went straight for the sweet, picking up a new flavor and an old classic.

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South Korean coffee chain Caffe Bene has opened its doors on Broadway and 49th street. Last week we posted photos of the impressive space, which boasts comforts that most Starbucks locations lack these days: plenty of seating, a book nook, flat screens and more. But what about the coffee and baked goods?

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If Yushi (47th btw. Lex+Park) is famous for one thing on Midtown Lunch, it’s that they sure like to switch things around every few months. (Remember the conveyor belt, dim sum, then the refrigerated conveyor belt?) Well, they’re at it again. They recently launched Yu Bowl (no relation to the Super Bowl, we’re assuming) which has completely replaced the conveyor belt. The Yu Bowl uses the Chipotle style ordering/serving method where the customers line up and you point to the server what you would like in your (Yu) bowl.

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One of the easiest parts of acclimating to central Midtown after seven years in Midtown south has been the getting used to the variety of cart food. No less than half a dozen mobile food vendors surround my new office building. One of the most noticeable has been Kims Aunt Kitchen, which manages to waft a garlic-scented breeze past me as I walk down 46th Street every morning.

It’s been years since we’ve given the cart some proper attention so, I decided it’s about time to follow up on the fried delights that this cart had to offer.

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• Dorie Greenspan’s Cookiebar returns to Mizu on Monday! [Fork in the Road]
• A behind the scenes video of Prime Burger [AHT]
• The Starbucks in 30 Rock is teeming with live mice [Gawker via Grub Street]
• Bon Chon on 2nd is inconsistent, but still puts out tasty wings [II]